Cudgen Classic

posted 26 Oct 2014, 18:17 by Nippers Secretary

Although the day was hot and sunny a howling northeast wind had been blowing for several days and had turned the ocean into a washing machine with a strong northerly current which made the challenging course more difficult.First up was the under 10's Sienna Lee, Cooper Tate and Sven Loemeker starting with a 500m run up the beach into the strong head wind before entering the water for the board leg, with the strong wind and racing current it was difficult to stay on the 300m course and not miss the markers, but they managed only to have to run the 500m back up the beach to start the gruelling swim leg, after skilfully negotiating the swim it was back on the beach for the final 500m run to the finish where all 3 little champions finished in style. Next was the under 11's featuring Hannah Whitney and Stirling Crawford their race was made a bit more difficult by increasing the swim leg to 500m but they battled through the rough conditions, unfortunately for Hannah the strong current swept her wide on the board leg and she could not recover, Stirling battled on to finish the race that last year got the better of him also.The under 12's were represented by Cooper Taylor, Nathaniel Bryant and Reef Sommerville, they were also tested in the tricky conditions but have been training hard in the early part of the season and finished the race with respectable positions in a strong fieldFive under 13's answered the challenge this year with a 800m board, 500m swim and three 500m beach runs between them and the finish line, it was going to be a tough days work but Zane Patience, Finn Whitney, Jacob Chandler, Shakyra Gillard and Bree-Anne Wihlborg all completed this testing course in tough conditions a credit to their fitness and determination.Not to be outdone under 17 competitors Russell Chandler and Callum Fitzpatrick entered the senior division and also finished creditably in a strong field of competitors.The highlight came at the end of the day when the 3 under 10 competitors came together for the foamy relay. Sven got the team off to a great start and Cooper capitalized improving their position setting up a great finish for Sienna who charged to the finish line to grab the silver medal. Go CabaCongratulations to all the kids who took on the challenge in tough conditions . well done.